An obituary in The Independent said Crozier died on Saturday after a long illness. According to his family, the former Reuters correspondent made it into the record books after interviewing the most prime ministers and heads of state – a total of 64.

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He was born in Queensland, Australia, and moved to England aged 12, where he received a scholarship to study piano and musical composition at the Trinity College of Music in London.

The Independent reported:

His journalism career led him to become a foreign correspondent for Reuters, columnist for The Economist, reporter for the BBC and, during a brief return to Australia, a writer for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Crozier, a father of four, also founded the Institute For The Study Of Conflict, a London-based group that studied insurgencies and terrorism.

He would later work with the British Secret Intelligence Service, the Information Research Department (IRD) of the British Foreign Office, and the CIA.

His son Michael, also a journalist, said his father was “an accomplished pianist, painter, poet and linguist”, adding:

During a long and successful career as a journalist and international activist, he travelled the world, putting the case against Soviet expansion beyond their borders.

He met prime ministers and heads of state in all major countries in the world and wrote a number of successful books which several generations have read with interest.